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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

1. & 2.) Sleeping in on School Days by Jordan Bishop
3.) Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
4.) 100 Selected Poems by e.e. cummings
5.) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Change is difficult. No, that's an understatement. Change is brutal. It knocks us flat off our feet, takes away everything familiar and shoots us out into something new whether we're ready for it or not. And most of the time, looking back, we'll see how completely worth it that change was. How that change was coming all along and how necessary it was to get where we see ourselves going in this life. That we really were ready for it, we just didn't know it at the time.

It has taken me a long while to get to this point. To the point where I'm ready for what's next. I've battled myself, I've battled time, I've battled others. All in an effort to stop change. I've tried so hard to put a hold on things, afraid to give my control up to fate. Afraid to lose all that is familiar and embrace the new. And all along it seems that I was only trying to walk backwards on a moving walkway. Time continued on. The world kept with its spinning. I was moving without even knowing it.

And now that my head has caught up with my feet, I realize that it was never about being sure of what I want. I was always sure. I am confident in everything that I have ever dreamed a possibility for myself. I know who I am as a person. I have a good soul and a lot of love to offer this world. I keep my heart out in plain sight and that's the way I like it.

So let's take the leap together. The world won't wait on us. We have to take it in our hands and mold it into everything we ever dreamed. Let us run in the direction it is taking us. Hell, let us skip, jump and laugh too.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

I have so many bits of poems and written word pieces that go unfinished. It seems I start them in scattered bursts of emotion and inspiration, only to leave them by the wayside on scraps of paper and napkins. It doesn't feel right to go back and complete them after the moment in which they were started has passed. Perhaps they hold some sort magic with the way they trail on into infinite unknown. The ending to be imagined.

Though many pieces are personal, I am entertaining the idea of posting these unfinished bits on here. If only to organize and save them from being confused for trash.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I stayed awake last night to finish reading Her Fearful Symmetry and before I knew it, it was 5:30AM and the sun was on its way up. I watched the sunrise with my coffee in hand and then embarked on an early morning run. The weather was beautiful when I left, only 69 degrees. By the time I was back at my house, it had gone up ten degrees. Still beautiful but hot and humid.

My runs have been going well. I'm running with much more ease these days and am trying to listen to my body when it tells me to take a day off. My lower back has been bothering me for the last few days because of the minor difference in the lengths of my legs. I think I have finally fixed the issue though by putting a small insert into my left shoe under the heel. My weight seems to be more evenly distributed now when my feet hit the ground. My goal is to try and increase my running pace over the next few weeks. I would like to be able to pull an eight or nine minute mile.

There were some delicious vegan eats in my life today. For lunch, I had leftover Chinese vegetable bean curd (tofu) with rice. I ended up adding some sweet and spicy barbecue sauce to the mix (sounds gross but it wasn't, I swear) because the remaining food I had left was a bit dry. It turned out really delicious.

For dinner, I had a break from cooking, as my mother decided to make a vegan-friendly meal. She had purchased some TVP (textured vegetable protein) for me a few weeks ago and decided to use it tonight in a spicy red bean and rice dish. Besides the TVP, red beans, and brown rice, we also mixed in onion, cayenne pepper, and a bit of garlic for flavoring. Yum! Good job, Mom!

And that's about it for today. I'm moving on to reading a new book tonight and am going to try my hardest to sleep and wake up for another early morning run. Hope this finds you well.

Monday, July 26, 2010

I am making a valiant effort to let go of the past, focus on the now and dream of the future. And in an effort to keep with that, I have decided that rather than summarize the past year of my life in which I did not blog, I would just pick up where I am now. And, hopefully, for any outsider readers, the bits will all fit together and make some sense. So, where am I now? Well, after living with my girlfriend in Portland, OR for six weeks, I have finally (to the surprise of many) returned to the East coast.

My return was met with a lot of excitement, shock and curiosity from everyone around me. Apparently that is what happens when you plan to be gone for 19 days, stay for 45 and come back thirteen pounds thinner and vegan. Everyone wants the lowdown on life in Portland, my new lifestyle changes and where I am going from here. And the little one? Well, she just wanted to know what kind of "cool stuff" I brought back with me and if we could go play together.

The adjustment back to home life hasn't been too bad. While I miss my girl unbelievably and can't wait to be with her again, I am so glad to have my family and close friends back within an arm's reach. If anything, the biggest adjustment I have had to make is with my food choices. Unfortunately, living in a town, as opposed to big city like Portland, limits one's options for closely located vegan-friendly foods. And so? I have taken up cooking! I am really quite proud of myself for taking on this cooking adventure, as in the past, I have never cooked more than french fries and nuggets for myself. Now, every night, I throw together dishes full of whole grains, fresh produce, and newly discovered meat alternatives. And because I am so proud of the progress that I have been making, I have taken to photographing some meals to share. You will find a few recent food creations below:

Vegan chili cheese fries. The cheese sauce is a corn starch mixture because I did not have the nutritional yeast needed for the Post Punk Kitchen cheese sauce that I originally wanted to make. The chili is a vegetable chili with Smart Ground's veggie protein crumbles mixed in.

A similar stir fry to the one I made with pasta. This time with some soy sauce and cayenne pepper to make it a little bit spicier.

A quick spinach salad lunch. This time with toasted 9-grain bread croutons.

The best part about cooking is that I always have basic leftovers (rice, pasta, tofu, smart ground) to make into something new the next day. Though my family has taken interest in my cooking, they have yet to try any of it. So for now, I am cooking for one.

Aside from my dietary changes, I have also taken up running again. It is difficult with the state's humidity but I have found that 8PM is bearable enough. I am working to build up my distance running again and hopefully will be able to run a 5k in the near future. Here's to health!